I think my house was being scouted

This is a discussion on I think my house was being scouted within the Home (And Away From Home) Defense Discussion forums, part of the Related Topics category; Used to know some people that planted blackberry vines/bushes along the perimeter of their fence for similar purposes. (plus they are tasty)...

As with all statements I've made and All that I will make, please check your local laws to verify accuracy. (and if i'm wrong let me know as I like to be right in the future) After all I'm just some goofball posting on an internet forum.

I got home from the gun range and then a late meal,my range buddy and I usually go eat after shooting for around 2 to 3 hours.As I'm turning down my street my house is about 5 from the corner,I see 3 teenage kids walking across my yard coming from between my neighbors house and mine.our yards are totally fenced in.
As I get about 20 feet away a fourth kid appears from between the houses and I'm now at condition red,nobody has any business in that area at 11:30 pm,I get out of my jeep and yell hey what the F are you doing in my yard,I get some kinda BS backtalk,So I call 911 and the dispatcher asks if my house was broken into,I tell him I don't know but they need to get these kids checked out,he tells me to call their non emergency number.I shoulda told him if they had a buncha my stuff when they came outta my yard I woulda been calling for an ambulance.
They had a Police chase after some burglars in the sub division down the street from mine last week and one car they were chasing ran headon into a SUV killing 2 people and injuring 3.That's It tomorrow my house gets ringed with motion activated lights,and I'm putting up a few wireless IR cameras

I'd have a talk with the chief of police and very calmly discuss my feelings that the dispatcher's action could have endangered your life and or well being and that you didn't know if they had already robbed you or not, or if you were in jeopardy by confronting them. I'd also bring up the recent burglaries in the area and the resulting fatalities and let him defend his dispatcher's response to your call. He will defend his dispatcher, it's his job to stick up for his people, but he will also chew them out making it less likely such an outrage will occur again. I think it's inappropriate under the circumstances to threaten an ambulance may be necessary and that you acted appropriately by not doing that. I realize the after the fact anger you feel, I get angry the same way. But acting or saying those things to the police authority will make you the aggressor in their eyes instead of the victim you have been. We always have to be careful about our police interactions. Your actions were completely appropriately in my opinion and I think you're wise to look in to deterrence devices as you currently are. Best wishes.

I purchased 3 Swann Security cameras from Radio Shack about 2 years ago. I have them located @ my Front Door, Back door and Garage Door. They are wireless and have 4 different operating frequencys. I have 3 so I room for one more if I decide to. They work great, I have them connected to the TV in my bedroom and they also have Night Vision(IR). I also have a transmitter connected to my computer where I can open a window at anytime and see what is going. It was a very easy setup and I truly love those little cameras. I really got them because after my two dogs died about 2yrs. ago I did not trust not having some way to visually see outside in the dark.

Reminds me of something I read some where. An elderly couple heard a rucuss in there shed so he goes to investigate and sees some guys rummaging threw his stuff and taking thing's so he calls 911. Dispatcher tells him it will be 30-45 minutes everyone is busy so he hangs up and calls back 2 minutes later. Tells 911 that he just shot a guy for stealing his stuff. LEO was there in minutes.

I am sure I botched that but it was a long time ago I read that.

That's really all 911 is good for, if you REALLY need them. They'll be there in time to take photos, leave chalk marks, and bring body bags. Just make sure it's not for you!

Scout my house! Listen to the dogs that alert when you just walk by the end of our drive, and go into phycho-Cujo-on-PCP mode if you set foot on our property. Trust me - my house has nothing you want that badly.

cut off nails in the fence, too much trouble.
use carpet tac strips.
(wooden strip of short nails , used for laying carpet)
thet get nice and rusty with the weather.
ouch, hard to let go of when climbing a 6ft stockade fence.
Texas. ..... no tresspassing sign on the fence..
fence jumbing in Texas is a big No No.
maybe a few ankle twisting holes in the side yards,
injured durning a crime in Texas, no recourse
i would worry about that when I got to court

Sean
XD 9SC | XD 45ACP Service | XD 45ACP Compact |Borealis"You may know where you are. God may know where you are. If you don't tell your dispatcher where you are, you'd better be on speaking terms with God!"

We had a similar problem once in California, but we knew it was just a group of malcontents... er, I mean kids... who were too lazy to walk the extra block to their buddy's house (our neighbor), so they'd cut through out backyard. Of course, we didn't know for sure they WEREN'T casing the place, either. Our yard was divided - one side was a large garden, and the other side had dogs. It bugged me because they'd do it in the middle of the night, and scare the bejeezus out of me. The dogs would go nuts, but couldn't get into the garden side of the yard to deal with the problem.

We set up trip wires that would drop large amounts of aluminum cans, making enough noise for us to get around to the front of the house and catch them. We put axle grease along the top of the wire fence at the front. We smeared a little dog poop along the top of the fence they were hopping, so they'd end up with a handful of poop when they grabbed the top. Believe it or not, these things did not work.

Then one afternoon, our dogs started going nuts outside. I figured it was another stray cat doing his "business" in the garden (a common problem), so I took down our pump air BB gun, gave it one pump (enough to sting, but not break the skin - I tried it myself), and stepped outside with it at the ready, thinking I was going to tap a poopin' cat. I've never seen a 16-year-old boy turn SO pale and SO polite, SO fast, in my whole life.

Of course, I expect that he had no idea it was just a BB gun. All he saw was a really irate, very pregnant woman pointing the business end of a gun at him. He never came through our yard again - neither did his friends. And our neighbor became very polite, too.

They obviously got caught in a place they weren't supposed to be. You said they made some smart comeback. Now this could have been their real attitude, but it may have been bravado and fear and trying to save face. Good job on keeping your guard up, being alert coming into your driveway and calling police after they didn't immediately apologize and comply. But if they were showing attitude it may have been a psychological reaction to stress. If anyone reading this hasn't checked it out yet, No Nonsense Self Defense - Reliable information for dangerous situations is a GREAT resource. It will take hours to skim through, and the layout is ADHD at best as you have to click links in the middle of an article to understand the rest of it, and the link takes you to a whole new article on that phrase alone. I learned a lot about communication and the psychology behind encounters. Is a must-read for board members.

Back on topic, when me and my boys used to make trouble in high school, motion sensor lights seemed to be very effective. Not that we were going through people's houses, just places we shouldn't have been. Flickering televisions are great if you are out of town or away, too. I think you can buy a device that simulates the TV light that may be cheaper to run than your money-sucking plasma TV.